The Noble House of Black
by lovemelucky12
Summary: A short story about the love, ties, and rules that encumbered and estranged family members of the noble House of Black.


Hope you like it

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May 31, 1968

The words were like rain washing off her coat, never really touching her, and she sat unchanged as she watched Andromeda's red lips, so like her own, form the traitorous, filthy words that would estrange her from their family. She heard Cissy's whimper and her mother's gasp, but she did not move to comfort them; for, it was disgusting that they should continue to be effected by the rubbish that stood before them, and in that moment, she felt akin only to her father, who threatened to beat out the sniveling slut's brains. She watched her ex sister recoil from his words, as if she had expected a different reaction, and she watched her flee the room, her long black hair whipping behind her elegant, beautiful form. How could so much potential be wasted? Disgusting.

June 10, 1968

She was now the mother of two, not three… but two. The fact lingered on the edges of her consciousness, as she tried to grasp it and believe it, but the thought was allusive; for, her heart knew better and it could not forget the dark, challenging eyes, swan-like form, and the unladylike laughter that had been her daughter, who had committed the unthinkable, and who she must now grieve for in silence. _Andromeda._ The name was forbidden fruit now, best to be forgotten, but Druella clung to its essence like a small child clinging to their mother. She winced as she heard her husband snap at Narcissa for raising her voice above a whisper, and she watched her youngest recede into herself, becoming meek and subservient, which was her husband's goal; to break the remaining children, who had dared to allow their sister to make such a mistake. She felt a bubble of anger surface in her stomach, anger at her daughters for remaining while their sister had to leave. She had never loved her eldest or her youngest, but had clung to Andromeda, loved her with a mother's love that could never be shown to her other children, who were so different from their brave, loving sister.

September 2, 1968

The cruel whispers are almost more than she can bear, but Cissy is determined to wait until she can hide in the security of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to cry, she will not allow more disgrace too fall upon the noble House of Black. She holds her head high, as Bellatrix told her she must, and walks through the corridors; trying not to hear her sister's name on the lips of the foul and unworthy, people who would not have dared to glance in Dromeda's direction… before. Yes, she could remember a time when the students of Hogwarts cowered in fear of her graceful and dignified sister, when it was okay to love and admire Dromeda. Now, however, it is taboo to admit familiarity with the name and all that it means, now, she must pretend that her heart does not ache for the familiar, soft hands that would hug her tightly, or the brave, sure voice that would patiently remind her to uphold the family's honor. Yet, as she walks the lonely corridors of Hogwarts, she cannot help a nagging voice that reminds her that in the end, it was Andromeda, not herself, that gave dishonor to the family.

December 25, 1968

Rodolphus has taken her place at dinner, across from me, and I find it unsettling the way his eyes are cold as they search me. No one has told me why she left, no one has spoken of her since May, and conversation is delicate, avoiding memories that involve my vibrant cousin. The only person who has dared to breathe her name, even under his breath, is Sirius, but even he refrains from telling me why she has become a ghost, and I have a sneaking suspicion that he is also afraid to tell me. I long for Rodolphus, who is a strange and foreign object; to vacate her spot before there is nothing left of her warm, obstinate essence that so captured me. However, this is a silly notion because obviously Andromeda has done something to deserve such ostracism, and therefore, I must also try to wash away her memory and carry on, although, I do feel sorry for Narcissa, who has lost her older sister. Thank Salazar that Sirius will never abandon me.

February 14, 1969

Mother blasted Andy's name off the family tree yesterday, she did it casually, while having tea with Aunt Dorea, and it amazed me that neither woman flinched after it happened. I was hiding behind the curtains, trying to gather information on Bellatrix's engagement to the blood sucker Rodolphus, when Mother decided that Andy's face was disgracing her house. I know what happened, no one's told me, but I know; for, it is swimming in the air, suffocating me and I can't help but feel jealous of my entrancing cousin. She was able to escape from the rules, the regulations, the crippling restrictions; she was able to live for herself and not for the family that we all bow down subserviently to. One day, I will be like her, free from the dark crippling hate, and I will take Regulus with me; for, he will not always be so blinded by the noble House of Black and he will learn that we must escape or die. Die like Narcissa, who has become a shallow version of herself, who has thrown herself into her obligations and what is expected of her, so that she never has a chance to breathe. No, we will not be like Narcissa, Regulus and I, we will be like Andromeda—there I said her name—and we will not bow down to anyone.

August 27, 1970

She loves me, and I know that she does as I watch her tidy our small flat, her stomach bursting with the child inside of her, our child. I never expected to end up with her, I had been prepared to live without her, and I was surprised when she told me that she had left her family for me. I had stared at her in shock, not really seeing her aristocratic form or her red, swollen eyes, but seeing through her; to all that she had given up to be with me. We were married the next day and moved into this apartment shortly after. She did not mention her family, but hung pictures of Narcissa, Sirius, and Regulus up beside the pictures of my family, and I would hold her as she cried for them, her longing for them only second to her need for me. I tried to convince her to go back, but she would not budge, claiming that she would not return to the dark world of her family, but I knew the truth, I knew that she could not return even if she wished; for, she was as good as dead to all of them… even Narcissa, Sirius, and Regulus, who she so adored. She had given up her world for me, and I would remain eternally grateful; for, in doing so, she had given me the world.

May 2, 1998

_Avada Kedavra. _The filthy half blood crumpled at her feet, just like her beast of a husband, and Bellatrix kicked the child in the side, causing her to roll over. She looked like Andromeda, had the same dark eyes that everyone in the Black family possessed, and even the same defiant smirk that Bellatrix was famous for. She kicked the body again, and moved on to fight the next victim; she had repaid her sister, a family member for a family member.

May 11, 1998

Narcissa stood on the outside of the gathering; for, she had not come to mourn the deceased, but to appease her troubled conscience of the grief that is killing her like a disease. She keeps her head lowered, hoping that Dromeda will not notice her, afraid to face the woman who she had so wronged. The crowd begins to disperse and Narcissa is preparing to apparate, when a soft, familiar hand lands on her shoulder and she turns to see Andromeda. She says her name for the first time in thirty years, and it feels strange in her mouth, and so she says it again to reacquaint herself with it. Dromeda smiles and throws her arms around her, her last surviving family member, and Narcissa feels the guilt eat her alive; for, in trying to do the right thing she has wronged her favorite sister, and somehow, it is she, not Andromeda, who should be ashamed of her life. She begins to cry and falls into the hug, becoming eleven again; when Dromeda was still the Queen of Hogwarts and her idol, Bellatrix had yet to mentally decline, and her family was still powerful and unbroken. Andromeda pulls away and pats her cheek, turning towards the other mourners, but before she leaves, she whispers to Narcissa, "You must always uphold the honor of the noble House of Black."

January 8, 2000

Andy hugs Teddy tighter to her breast, as they walk towards the Black family crypt, where her mother, father, aunt, cousin, and elder sister are buried… where she would have been buried had she done as she was told. She reads the names, carved into stone that so resembled the deceased themselves. _Cygnus Black, Druella Black. Regulas Black, Bellatrix Lestrange. _The names of her past, the people that she once treasured and loved, but in the end weren't enough. She has never regretted leaving them, although she loved them; for, she could no longer play the perfect daughter, she could not be like her beloved Cissy or dear Bellatrix. She was meant for another path, and although Ted never believed her, she is glad that she was able to leave their hate and coldness behind; for, in the end, it was she that was set free, while they died clutching to their bonds.

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